1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to firearm accessories and particularly to a rest for supporting firearms during shooting to provide a steady rest and support for the gun. More particularly, the invention relates to a rest for supporting a pistol which is of an extremely inexpensive, simple and rugged construction.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various devices have been constructed and used to assist a shooter while firing small arms, such as rifles and pistols to provide a solid, steady rest for supporting the gun. These rests support the gun barrel while target shooting to increase accuracy, or to enable the gun sights to be adjusted, or to determine the shooting characteristics of the weapon. These devices preferably are provided with means to adjust the height of the barrel supporting element to enable the device to be used for various weapons.
Some examples of such prior art gun supports or rests are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,012,350, 3,608,225 and 4,055,017. These known devices, especially those shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,012,350 and 4,055,017 appear to provide the desired results, but are relatively expensive to manufacture and produce due to their particular construction and the elements used therein. Many of the elements of these types of gun rests require expensive machining procedures for their production and assembly.
The construction such as shown in U.S. Pat No. 3,608,225 provides a gun rest which would be considerably less expensive to manufacture than the two devices described above, but would not provide as rigid a structure as these two devices. Likewise, difficulties could be encountered in properly leveling the device of U.S. Pat. No. 3,608,225 due to the possible skewing of the movable gun barrel supporting shelf. Also, the weapon could possibly strike the upper cross brace which is needed for rigidity if it experiences sufficient recoil.
Most of these devices are intended primarily for rifles as opposed to pistols, and accordingly, do not provide a convenient and comfortable rest for the hand and arm of the shooter when used with a pistol. Thus, if the rest is used for long periods of time for pistol shooting as at a target range, this could affect the shooter's accuracy.
No known gun rest construction of which I am aware provides an extremely simple and inexpensive device for firmly supporting the gun barrel in an adjustable position while providing a comfortable support for the pistol shooter's hand and arm.